Posts By: Hayden Shumsky

11th Grade is the Most Important Year for College Admissions

The First Half of High School is Over and Expectations Rise Dramatically This School Year

There is Good News: Great Opportunities Are Abound. You Can Reach the Colleges of Your Dreams, Even if Your 9th and 10th Grades Were Not Stellar. But You Must Have a Plan to Distinguish Yourself in 11th Grade!

Two years of high school have passed in the blink of an eye; your child will begin applying to college in approximately 12 months. Some students have already performed at an outstanding level and created a solid portfolio of grades and activities. Others have yet to maximize their grades and abilities and engage their interests with depth. For both sets of students, 11th grade is the most important year in terms of college admissions. If your child wants to reach the top 150 colleges and universities, then your family must have a plan to stand out from the masses of highly-qualified applicants.college applications photo

College admissions personnel expect that 11th graders are consistent academic performers and are working hard on their interests and curiosities. High school juniors must prove their seriousness and commitment to academic and extra-curricular activities by performing at the highest level to date. A strong 11th grade performance, in and out of class, can drastically change the way your child’s college application will be perceived. Even underachievers can rewrite their story with an upward sloping set of grades and a well-crafted set of extra-curricular activities. What does your child need to do in 11th grade in order to maximize talents and performance?

Every middle class student in America participates in school clubs, sports teams, performing arts ensembles, and community service. These activities no longer catch the eye of college admissions staff unless the student is performing at an elite level or going way beyond the norm. Instead, your child needs to start moving in the direction of his or her future path of study and career interests. Activities and experiences that connect with future majors are the most valuable entries on a resume. Does your child have clarity about interests, majors, and career plans? What will your child do this year to build a connection between activities and future plans?ACT Test image

Your child should be taking the SAT or ACT for the first time by Christmas. Plans for test preparation need to be made immediately so that realistic schedules can be created. If your child is to take the SAT Subject Tests, then 11th grade is the time to do so. Does your family have a test prep plan?

Serious college research should begin no later than the first day of 11th grade. Does your family understand the differences between the major types of American college options (Public Research, Private Research, Private Teaching) and where your child can be most happy and academically successful? What does it really take (GPA, SAT/ACT score, extra-curricular portfolio, etc.) to be accepted at your child’s top college choices?

college campusWith a detailed plan of attack, your child can easily reach the colleges of his or her dreams. Those who have started strong have a leg up, but will need to finish with gusto. Sub-par performance in 9th and 10th grade can be offset with better results in the remaining years of high school. If your son or daughter acquires the guidance and support needed to complete all of the steps laid forth, then he or she will reach the desired destination. Procrastination and denial will lead to disappointment at college acceptance time. The time for reality is here; the best opportunities will go to those who distinguish themselves in 11th grade. The others will join the masses and leave their future to the whims of chance.

Inside The College Admissions Decision Room: Who Gets Accepted And What Factors Are Most Important

 

Most parents and students have very little understanding of what actually happens in a college admission committee and the ways that each application is evaluated. Admission personnel track and rate applicants on the following set of typical measures. Below is a standard matrix of importance, but in no way should you assume that our matrix is the exact matrix upon which your child will be measured at any single prospective school. As mentioned before, the priorities change from year to year as student demographics and college administration priorities change.

1. Special Talents or Skills

This is the first and most important matter to every college in America. Beyond actual grades, colleges want to attract the most talented academic minds they can get their hands on. Every college in America wants the student who has already collaborated with NASA on research related to space travel, even if he or she is a C student or worse!

Performing arts superstars are equally sought after, like the young woman who has been dubbed the next Maria Callas and is performing with the NY Metropolitan Opera while attending high school. Colleges want the top talents in academics, performing arts, and athletics and those will be the first priority for any admission staff.

teenage opera singerWhile celebrity is not a skill or talent, fame is just as much a priority for college admission personnel, so admitting the children of famous or powerful parents is an equally high priority.

2. Geographic Origin, Race, Ethnicity, and Socio-Economic Background

These are not quite as important as special talents or skills, but are of very high importance to admission staff. Colleges want to build their name and reputation in as many areas as possible within America and across the world. Attracting students from every domestic region and foreign country is of interest to every college development and PR staff and thus is important to admission personnel.

Further, universities want to appease their alumni, donors, and regulators, so building a racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse campus is a priority. Public universities are under huge pressures from state and federal governments to serve under-represented and underprivileged students. Private universities face donor pressures to not be seen as homogeneous or strictly as places for privileged students.

One key piece of information to keep in mind here: students from the same high school often apply to the same small group of schools as their classmates. Most often, this works against their chances of admission, as colleges are loathe to take more than 1 or 2 students from the same high school (except for local public universities). The same is true across the Houston region. Most middle class students apply to the same small group of 25 or so universities and therefore hurt their chances of admission.diverse group of college students

3. Grades in Core Academic Subjects and Quality of Coursework

Admission staff believe that half of the school day is spent in classes that do not often demand much work or brainpower, so they discount the impact of grades in electives. Grades in English, Math, Science, and History/Social Science courses and Foreign Language classes are typically pulled out and evaluated separately from the student’s overall GPA.

Similarly, the quality of the coursework, whether the course was AP/IB or dual credit, if offered is of great importance. Admission people prize students who challenge themselves by taking the most difficult and in-depth coursework.ap tests

The grades in courses related to the student’s identified college major are of great importance as well. In STEM majors, admission personnel will pay close attention to grades in math and science courses. Strong math and science grades can offset lower grades in other coursework. Similarly, a prospective English major can offset B grades in math and science with high marks in English and history courses.

4. SAT/ACT Scores and SAT Subject Scores

The SAT and ACT measure overall academic ability and there is a strong positive correlation between standardized test scores and college GPA. Furthermore, SAT Subject Test scores are validation of the student’s grades in the related subject area. For example, if a student has a B average in AP Physics, but acquires a 750 on the SAT Physics Test, then admissions can be certain that the quality and challenge of the curriculum at the student’s high school is high. Admissions staff have trouble evaluating the quality of similar coursework at different schools and high SAT Subject Test scores validate that a student has real mastery of the subject.

5. Application Essays

In some ways the application essay is the most important element of the application because any particular college typically attracts applicants that are very similar in grades and SAT/ACT scores. The essay is thus the only way to separate candidates and identify those who have the intangible qualities of maturity, insight, creativity, and honesty that admission staffs prioritize.

Written expression is of critical importance to college admission personnel. It is no understatement to say that an applicant’s essays will get them accepted or knock them out of the running. If your child does not write highly detailed, personal, and interesting essays, then his or her chances of admission at moderately to highly competitive colleges go way down.

6. Academic and Career Pursuits Outside of Class

high school science lab
This measure has gone way up in importance over the last several years. As college admissions gets ever more competitive, admission staffs have determined that students who pursue academic and career activities outside of class outperform their peers when they arrive on college campuses. If you want to boost your child’s college admission prospects, identify their favorite and strongest academic areas and curiosities and help your kid get involved with related out of class pursuits.

In this domain, research and identification of future majors and careers is crucial. Applicants want to start connecting their high school activities to their future path of study or work by 10th grade. It is not that admission staff believe 10th graders should have already chosen an exact future major and career. Rather, the expectation is that students should start experimenting and participating in academic and career activities as a sign of the student’s intellectual curiosity and passion. Pursuit of academic or career-related engagement out of class is the number one sign of a serious and committed student.

7. Breadth of Life Experiences

College administrators are very concerned about the current generation of new college students. Their academic and extra-curricular records have never been stronger, yet they are lacking in critical domains. Very few students in the current generation have demonstrated independence and realized their interests and passions on their own, outside of the reach of parent or school influences. If your child can demonstrate his or her independence and maturity by challenging themselves with uncomfortable self-generated experiences, then he or she will win major points with admission staff.

Examples are activities such as: playing drums for an unknown touring rock and roll band; teaching prisoners how to read, add, and subtract; traveling to South America to build sanitary systems in rural and impoverished towns; or undertaking a cultural exchange with a Kenyan school and family.

8. Class Rank, Overall GPA

high school valedictorian
Because of game-playing by high schools, parents, and students, these elements are of lower importance today than in years past, except for those colleges that have auto-admission formulas based on class rank or grade point average. Admission personnel are well-aware of how students and parents manipulate course choices to advance their class rank and overall grade point average.

Further, the quality and challenge level of elective courses has great variation across high schools so admissions staff take the perspective that such grades are close to meaningless in most cases. Additionally, many high school schools do not rank their students and have obscure formulas for calculating GPA. All of this manipulation is seen as deceitful and is therefore eliminated or lowered in importance in the admission decision making process.

9. Special Achievements and Awards

If your son or daughter wins prizes in state or national academic or arts competitions, these carry real weight with admissions staff, particularly if the award is related to the prospective major.

Awards for academic performance that are voted on by high school teachers and administrators are also particularly impressive. Students voted as a school’s top French or Physics student or Citizen of the Year by teachers and staff win points with admission staff.

The Eagle Scout award, the Girl Scouts Gold Award, and awards for FFA, athletics, and debate also catch the eye of admission personnel.

10. Community Service/Extra-curricular Activities

Where once, service to the community was somewhat exceptional, today community service is expected of every middle class student in the U.S. Unless your son or daughter is going way above and beyond the usual service hours to the community, this component will not have much impact on your child’s chances of admission.

The same is true with extra-curricular activities. Because of rampant resume padding, admission staffs cannot easily distinguish which extra-curricular activities are meaningful and which are exaggerated. Common in-school activities like sports teams and performing arts groups do not make big impact on an applicant’s resume unless the applicant will pursue the activity in college. Participation in high school clubs has little value for today’s applicants.high school mission trip

If your child creates a special project outside of the usual outlets at churches and synagogues, local non-profits, or on-campus organizations, then your child can use community service or an extra-curricular activity as a shining star on the resume. Students who have created exceptional projects like: starting a local sketch comedy troop and performing at coffee houses; sending school supplies and clothes to victims of natural disasters in Asia and the Caribbean; or creating a free after-school tutoring service for underprivileged students at their former elementary school, have gotten very positive responses from admission staff over recent years.

Other measures of some importance: Interviews (where possible), recommendations (especially if your child attends a private high school), progression of performance (upward slope of grades over the 11th and 12th grades), extenuating circumstances (special difficulties that the student has faced).

College Internships are Key to Good First Jobs

job applicants in lineIf you want to get a high-paying job upon graduation from college, then your best bet is to get good grades and procure an interesting paid internship(s) during your undergraduate years. We have advised our clients for years that internships are crucial components of a college experience.  Internships that offer real skill development and exposure to the work world will vastly increase your employability at graduation. Subtly, this is the one of the hidden values of small colleges. Their network of close contacts and alumni, as well as their high quality career advising, guarantees that students who want to intern can do so easily.

New research quantifies the dollar value of college internships. According to research published by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 63% of college graduates who completed a paid internship received job offers versus just 35% of those who did not intern.  Further, graduates who interned earned a starting salary of $52,000,versus $36,000 for those peers who did not complete an internship.

For those who will graduate in the near future, the route to rewarding employment is via internship(s).  There continues to be strong employer demand for college educated workers, in fact job vacancies are at historic highs. However, good, high-paying jobs are difficult to come by for those who can not clearly demonstrate value to employers on day one.

Analysts at the Economic Policy Institute, report that despite the rosy overall employment picture, recent college graduates actually face a tougher labor market than before the 2008 recession. The percentage of college graduates under age 27 working in a job that does not require a college degree is at 44.6 % (Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2016). Furthermore, the “non-college” jobs employing workers with a college degree are of lower quality versus prior decades.

Entry level jobs require skills above and beyond Groupe de jeunes adultes en formation commercialethe acquisition of a college degree and decent performance in class.  You must develop your portfolio of skills and experiences to acquire meaningful and well-paying employment upon graduation.  Internships are the best method for doing so.

 

Poor High School Study Habits Linger Through College Says Largest College Student Survey

 
The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), sponsored by Indiana University at Bloomington,  is one of the most important aggregators of information about student academic performance in college.  Every year, this survey is given to approximately 300,000 college students at institutions of all levels including flagship public research universities, elite private research universities, and private teaching and liberal arts colleges. This year’s findings mimic previous years in many ways, but a key finding on study habits makes this research important.

High School Students With Good Study Habits Acquired A Grades in 63% of First Year College Courses

This year’s survey focused on the enduring academic effects of student habits from high school through the first years of college. We have always preached that the habits (especially study habits and time-management) that your child practices in high school are very likely to endure through the initial years of college.  The NSSE finds that our observation is true.  Students who studied the most effectively (using higher order learning strategies and with less distractions) and for the most number of hours in high school were the highest performers in the early years of college. As college freshmen, those who were efficient and committed students in high school acquired A’s in 63% of classes, a rate more than one-third higher than those who studied less in high school.

Distracted and Undisciplined High School Students Failed to Even Find a Quiet Place to Study in College

Parents of the latest generation of high school graduates have repeatedly complained to us that their children are not taking the basic steps to be effective students.  Parents observe their children using the worst of study strategies distracted studentlike: studying while watching TV, while browsing the internet, or using social media.  Moms and Dads are right to be concerned, as these behaviors carry over from high school to the early years of college.  Those who studied effectively in high school continued to do so in college.  Those who were dedicated students in high school were also nearly twice as likely to study in a quiet place in their first year of college than their less-committed classmates.

The number one finding in this year’s survey is that student engagement in academic and extra-curricular activities is predictive of academic performance. Those who are most challenged and engaged end up with the highest grades. Yet, only 54% of college freshmen and just 61% of college seniors were highly challenged by their coursework. Secondly, students across all majors except engineering are spending about 12-15 hours per week studying and preparing outside of class time. Engineers are studying more than any other subject area, which is similar to findings across a number of major research efforts on college student behaviors. student-library

We Can Teach Your Child to Become a Good Student

If your high school-aged son or daughter has poor or underdeveloped study habits and is not engaged by coursework and extra-curricular activities, then a crash in college is likely.  We have the only programs in America dedicated to teaching high school students to study effectively,complete all obligations and assignments, and have plenty of time for relaxation, social life, fun, and engaging pursuits.

First, we will teach your child to read for meaning, take succinct and useful notes, and how to prepare for tests and write essays.  Next, we will teach your high schooler to: plan and review their weekly tasks and assignments, identify and track the habits, routines, and feelings that lead to consistent productivity, and turn long term goals into actionable steps today. Don’t let your child’s bad habits linger any longer. Get started with our turnaround programs today!

 

Key Takeaways:

  • Bad habits in high school linger through the early years of college
  • Students perform better in college in and out of class when they are engaged and challenged
  • The internet and television are major distractions and a huge obstacle to student academic success in college
  • Bored students perform poorly in high school and college

The Shumsky Quick Guide to Playing Sports in College

Want to Play Sports In College? What do You Need to Know?

First, register with the NCAA in 10th grade
You may or may not play Division I sports in college, but even if you do not, please do not take any risk of violating NCAA rules. Registration with the NCAA takes but a few minutes of time.

What are the NCAA Divisions? What are the differences between Division I, Division II, and Division III programs?

Divisions I and II may offer you athletic scholarships for the all-in cost of attending the college. Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships, however, they frequently offer merit aid to athletes that are attractive to the coach and school.

Division I
Division I is the highest division in the NCAA and is composed of the teams and schools that you frequently see on television. Many of the universities that compete in Division I are flagship public research universities like The University of Texas-Austin, Ohio State, UCLA, etc. or private research universities like Rice, USC, Vanderbilt, the Ivy League schools, etc. The competition is fierce and near-professionalized in many of the sports and the athletes that compete for Division I programs are usually amongst the nation’s best performers in high school. Typically, Division I athletics require massive amounts of time and energy from the students who play for a university’s teams.

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 09: Dre Kirkpatrick #21 and Darius Hanks #15 of the Alabama Crimson Tide celebrate after defeating Louisiana State University Tigers in the 2012 Allstate BCS National Championship Game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 9, 2012 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Alabama won the game by a score of 21-0. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

In football, baseball/softball, basketball, hockey, swimming, track, soccer, and lacrosse, the in-season commitment is typically 50 hours per week or more including practices, travel, and games or events. Official Rules limit the amount of sanctioned practice to 20 hours per week, but our clients and other athletes have reported a much different experience in actuality. Out of season work is typically 20-30 or more hours per week. In secondary sports, the in-season commitment is usually around 40 hours per week and 15-20 hours per week off-season.

In summary, Division I athletics are like a full-time job and require a huge commitment from the student-athletes. To manage academic and athletic demands, one needs to be well-organized and highly disciplined in their habits. Furthermore, the time demands of a Division I sport will preclude many student-athletes from completing majors in high workload areas like engineering, mathematics, computer science, and other STEM fields.

Division II
Division II athletics programs form a middle level between the hyper-demanding and competitive Division I programs and the more participative oriented Division III athletic offerings. Division II schools offer full athletic scholarships, but usually have a smaller number of scholarship athletes on each team. For example, in football, Division I schools offer about 85 scholarships per season, but in Division II that number is 36. Division II schools are often not as strong as Division I or Division III schools academically.division II athletes

There are a handful of outstanding academic universities in Division II, mostly small to medium sized private colleges, but many of the schools are of secondary or tertiary quality. Rollins College, Bentley University, and UC-San Diego are excellent schools that play Division II sports. In Texas, St. Edward’s University is a solid academic institution, but the remainder of the Division II schools in the state are not so strong. Schools like West Texas A&M, Tarleton State, and Midwestern State are not particularly high-powered academically.

Division II athletics are pretty strong in terms of the level of competition and many of the athletes in Division II will be spending much of their time out of class working on their sport. However, the demands of Division II in terms of practice time are at least 10-25% lower than their counterparts in Division I.

Division III
Division III athletics offer a nice balance for college student-athletes. Division III athletics programs span the gamut from hyper-competitive to more participative, but still allow student-athletes to have time to focus on their academic demands. Typical time spent on sports in-season for Division III athletes is 20-30 hours per week and out of season 5-10 hours per week. This leaves plenty of time for students to maximize their learning and get a first rate education in their area of study.

Division III schools are mostly teaching universities/liberal arts colleges; some of the strongest academic institutions in the U.S. are members of Division III. Elite colleges like Amherst, Williams, Pomona, Haveford, and Oberlin all play in Division III. Some schools like Johns Hopkins and Colorado College participate in Division III for most sports, but have a Division I program in one or two sports.

division III athletesDivision III schools do not offer athletic scholarships, but will frequently offer substantial merit aid packages to student-athletes that the school and its coaches find attractive. Nearly all Houston-area student-athletes can play sports at the Division III level. Texas’ TAPPPS, 5-A, and 6-A athletic conferences play at a very high level and athletes from Houston’s top public and private schools will be sought after by many Division III programs.

In summary, Division III offers a way to play sports in college without crazy levels of commitment. Furthermore, a good athlete from Houston might get accepted to a Division III school, and likely a strong academic program, that they would not have access to without their athletic abilities.

How to Research Colleges- Part 1

In recent post, we revealed Dr. Shumsky’s secret formula for college and career planning. The recipe gives you the exact steps in planning for college admission. Yet, there are other crucial pieces of information to pay very close attention to.  We are asked all the time about the validity of U.S. News Rankings, acceptance rates, and other data available in guidebooks and online.  As a family, you should take most of that information with a grain of salt as the data is usually self-reported or just the opinion of the author. The 4-year and 6-year graduation rates of the prospective university, however, are absolutely worthy of your attention.

In completing your college research, your priority is to find colleges that fit you and will serve your needs with good academic programs and engaging social and extra-curricular outlets. Successfully matriculating in a timely fashion is a must, for both financial and personal reasons.  If the prospective university does not have a respectable rate of graduation, then that university is very likely not a university that is worthy of attending. In your research, you want to try and find prospective colleges that graduate at least 70% in 4 years.  These colleges are moving the vast majority of their students through without any major hiccups.  job applicants in line

You should eliminate from your college list any school that does not graduate at least 70% of students in 6 years. These universities have at least two of the following traits: low-quality faculty, students who are not serious about their future and career, and a failure to commit appropriate resources to student support.

The goal is graduation within a maximum of 5 years and a path to fruitful employment or graduate school placement.  Employers and graduate school admission personnel know the quality of your university’s programs, you must know also.

How to Be A Success In College and Beyond

 

A MAP FOR COLLEGE SUCCESS AND ENTRY TO FRUITFUL EMPLOYMENT OR GRADUATE SCHOOL

FRESHMAN
1. Take 2 courses that relate to potential career/major
2. Two activities- one for pleasure, and one for career development
3. Maintain good GPA-3.0 minimum

SUMMER BEFORE SOPHOMORE, CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING
1. Internship
2. Independent study
3. Career or academically oriented activity
4. Summer school

SOPHOMORE
1. Use curriculum to narrow majors to one or two
2. Academic or career oriented activity
3. Set up study abroad plan
4. Find an internship for summer
5. Connect with faculty- search for mentor, potential recommend-er

JUNIOR
1. Study abroad one or two semesters
2. Choose faculty mentor and stay in contact
3. Set up summer internship that is closely aligned to major, grad school study area, or post-college job
4. Develop senior year project or practicum
5. Develop grad school application plan or path to employment

SENIOR
1. Internship (if possible) and senior project even if school does not require
2. Work closely with mentor
3. Write resume, cover letter, and develop interview skills
4. Begin to reach out to alumni in field of interest
5. Seek out friends and family members to identify employment opportunities
6. Choose professors who will recommend you for grad school

GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

  • Find a good place to study during your first week on campus, many dorm rooms are not fit for studying due to noise, distraction, etc. This will make or break your first semester grades
  • Establish a solid GPA in first 2 years, 3.2 or above
  • Learn a foreign language, studies show that those who speak foreign language earn a premium in first job and throughout their career
  • Study Abroad on a serious academic program- Increasingly this is of importance in graduate school admission and hiring in first job
  • Get to know faculty- If you introduce yourself to professors in every class during first weeks of semester, you will get benefit of doubt at grade time and have a wealth of contacts for guidance/mentoring, jobs, recommendations, and study projects
  • Participate in activities- whether for academics/career or for leisure, those students who are more involved in campus culture end up with higher grades and better college experience